Ali Bagheri

Ali Bagheri Kani (born 1967 ) is an Iranian diplomat who is currently acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. Before that he was political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran since September 2021. He is considered to be close to the Principlists and to be part of the inner circle of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Early life and education
Bagheri was born in 1967 in the village of Kan in Tehran County. His father, Mohammad-Bagher Bagheri, is a Shiite cleric who served as a member of the Assembly of Experts, while his uncle, Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, later led the same body. His brother, Mesbah al-Hoda Bagheri Kani, is a son-in-law of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Bagheri Kani studied economics at the Imam Sadiq University in Tehran.

Career
Bagheri has been a diplomat since 1990. He was Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013 and currently serves as advisor at the council. He was also chairman of Saeed Jalili's presidential campaign in the 2013 election. He also briefly worked as a political analyst at IRIB.

Kani was the lead negotiator in mediations between Iran and the United States in the September 2023 prisoner release deal. He had served as deputy to the foreign minister.

Kani has been the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs since 20 May 2024, following the death of his predecessor Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a helicopter crash. On 3 June 2024, he made his first overseas visit as foreign minister to Lebanon, during which he confirmed that the Iranian government was engaged in negotiations with the United States hosted by Oman.